大连市居民头发典型重金属富集特征研究

测定了大连市居民102份头发样品中Pb、Cd、Hg、As等重金属含量,评估了其暴露风险,并对头发中重金属的含量与年龄、性别的关系进行了分析.结果表明,大连市居民头发中Pb、Cd、Hg、As含量均低于中国居民头发中重金属的建议正常值上限,4种重金属暴露风险较低.男性头发中Cd、Pb和As的平均含量明显高于女性(p0.05),其中As平均含量差异达到极显著水平(p0.01).PCA分析显示样本分布集中在第一排序轴和第二排序轴中间,表明性别并不是影响头发中重金属含量的主要因素.19～35岁年龄组居民头发中Cd和Pb含量最高,且均与56～75岁年龄组呈现显著差异(p0.05);As和Hg在56～75岁年龄组居民头发中含量最高,与其它组比较均达到了显著水平(p0.05).PCA和Pearson分析表明4种重金属间相关性较好,大连市居民对4种重金属暴露途径基本相同.     

Maize: The Native North American’s Legacy of Cultural Diversity and Biodiversity

Recent research has focused on establishing the values of preserving biodiversity both in agriculture and in less managed ecosystems, and in showing the importance of the role of cultural diversity in preserving biodiversity in food production systems. A study of the philosophy embedded in cultural systems can reveal the importance of the technological information for preserving genetic biodiversity contained in such systems and can be used to support arguments for the protection/preservation of cultural diversity. For example, corn or maize can serve as a paradigm of Native American thinking and can provide one of the few areas from which common philosophical conceptions can emerge. An examination of the cultivation of corn or maize as an agricultural activity and as a cultural activity in Native American literature reveals a philosophy that recognizes the importance of biodiversity and provides techniques for its preservation. Corn, and the food and the materials derived from it, is something thought out, not by specialists, but by the entire tribe and its ancestors, even if this thinking is done within what we might consider a framework of highly mythical notions. Importantly, this framework yields an understanding of both the genetics and nutrition of corn. A survey of these mythical notions (myths and stories) and agricultural practices makes this thought explicit and exemplifies the value of cultural diversity and biodiversity.     

Gender differences in public office workers’ satisfaction,subjective symptoms and musculoskeletal complaints in workplace and office environments

This study investigates differences between male and female public office workers’ satisfaction levels, sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms and musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) complaints in workplace and office environments. Questionnaire surveys were performed in 30 offices from 15 public institutions. Male and female workers of the same age were coupled and selected from each office, gathering a total of 120 male and 120 female subjects. The results show that differences exist between genders in noise and lighting satisfaction levels, SBS-related symptoms (eye, nose, skin) and MSD complaints of hand/wrist/finger, while there is no difference in overall satisfaction level of office environments. The study also suggests that office design for public office workers should take into account gender differences in preventing MSDs and also SBS. The findings of this study are expected to serve as basic data for designing effective public office environments.     

我国城镇居民环保事务参与的性别差异分析

从行为参与、管理参与和环境意识三个方面阐述了当前环保事务参与中存在的性别差异问题；从社会结构的视角分析了性别化对环保参与现状的影响。针对存在的问题和制约因素，从社会系统、社会资源和环境意识三个方面提出发展建议。     

重庆市居民头发重金属富集特征及相关性分析

本研究利用火焰原子吸收法测定了重庆主城与郊区居民头发中镉、铜、镍、铅和锌等5种重金属的浓度水平,比较分析了人发中5种重金属含量水平及与年龄、性别和吸烟与否的关系,最后通过相关性分析和主成分分析初步了解重庆居民人发中重金属可能的来源.结果表明,重庆主城人发中Cd、Cu、Ni、Pb和Zn的平均含量分别为3.1、24.3、9.7、42.8和209.6 μg·g^-1,郊区居民人发的平均含量分别为0.9、15.8、5.6、15.2和173.4 μg·g^-1;5种重金属在主城居民头发中的含量均显著高于郊区居民头发中含量（t-检验,P<0.01）,并且其组成与居民附近土壤样品的组成基本一致;5种重金属的含量在不同年龄段人群中的分布没有明显趋势,只是在郊区居民头发中的Cu和Zn含量随着年龄增长而减少;主城和郊区男性头发中Cd和Pb含量均显著高于女性（P<0.01）,并且在主城和郊区吸烟者头发中的Cd和Pb显著高于非吸烟者（P<0.01）;通过相关性分析发现主城和郊区中Cd、Cu、Ni和Pb之间具有相似的相关性模式,并且主成分分析结果显示,在主城中,人发Cu、Ni和Pb具有相似的来源,而在郊区中,人发Cd、Ni和Pb具有相似的来源.     

Politicisation of Humanitarian Aid and Its Consequences for Afghans

This paper outlines the implications of international approaches to humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, focusing in particular on the period since the Taliban assumed power. It argues that international efforts to use conditionality on humanitarian assistance have proved ineffective in influencing the Taliban's policies, and have been implemented despite the negative impact on the welfare of the whole population. Efforts to adopt a principled approach to aid programming in this environment have also raised many ethical dilemmas which are likely to remain major challenges in that country and elsewhere.     

The effect of age,gender and marital status on residential satisfaction

ABSTRACT

Residential satisfaction is a vital component of individual quality of life which has been explored by researchers from different perspectives. This study takes the stance to investigate residential satisfaction from sociodemographic standpoints. The purpose is to contribute to further research on residential satisfaction by exploring specifically the impact of age, gender and marital status on overall residential satisfaction and in more detail with components of residential satisfaction of residents living in apartment buildings in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Quantitative analyses of a survey of 204 residents living 59 apartment buildings in Dhaka was conducted to examine whether there is any relation between residential satisfaction with age, gender and marital status of the apartment dwellers. This study also examined if these sociodemographic characteristics had a moderator effect on some of the key components of residential satisfaction. Primary findings indicate that there exists a significant relationship between residential satisfaction with age, gender, and marital status. Further analysis revealed that the “Married” group was more satisfied than the “Single/Never married” group, senior people tend to be more satisfied than are younger respondents and females were more satisfied than males concerning overall residential satisfaction. This study concludes that potential sociodemographic differences among households in apartment developments in Dhaka should be considered for effective residential satisfaction and to create a socially sustainable living environment.     

Reproductive health in Afghanistan: results of a knowledge, attitudes and practices survey among Afghan women in Kabul

A reproductive-health knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) survey was carried out among 468 Afghan women of reproductive age. A convenience sample of women was selected from attendees in the outpatient departments of four health facilities in Kabul. Seventy-nine per cent of respondents had attended at least one antenatal consultation during their last pregnancy. Two-thirds (67 per cent) delivered their first child between 13 and 19 years. The Caesarean-section rate was low (1.6 per cent). Two-thirds (67 per cent) of deliveries occurred in the home. The contraceptive prevalence rate was 23 per cent (16 per cent modern and 7 per cent natural methods). Twenty-four per cent had knowledge of any STIs, although most of these women did not know correctly how to prevent them. Most of the women (93 per cent) needed authorization from their husband or a male relative before seeking professional health-care. In multivariate analysis, women's schooling was significantly associated with antenatal-care attendance (AOR 4.78), institutional delivery (AOR 2.29), skilled attendance at birth (AOR 2.07) and use of family planning (AOR 4.59). Reproductive-health indicators were noted to be poor even among these women living in Kabul, a group often considered to be the most privileged. To meet the reproductive-health needs of Afghan women, the socio-cultural aspects of their situation--especially their decision-making abilities -- will need to be addressed. A long-standing commitment from agencies and donors is required, in which the education of women should be placed as a cornerstone of the reconstruction process of Afghanistan.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Thomas Drabek, Disaster-induced Employee Evacuation
Hugh Brammer, Agricultural Disaster Management in Bangladesh
Boris Porfiriev, Disaster Planning and Emergency Management in Russia
Patrick Bracken and Celia Petty, eds, Rethinking the Trauma of War
R. Cohen and F. M. Deng, eds, The Forsaken People: Case Studies of the Internally Displaced
Tom Trier and Lars Funch Hansen, eds, Conflict and Forced Displacement in the Caucasus: Perspectives, Challenges and Responses     

Attitudes and Perceptions about Ecological Resources and Hazards of People Living Aroung the Savannah River Site

Although considerable attention is devoted to environmental monitoring and assessment with respect to both pollutants and the status of particular plant or animal populations, less attention is devoted to assessing people's attitudes about the relative importance of ecological resources. In this paper we examine the attitudes and perceptions about ecological resources of people living around the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS), in South Carolina. Our overall hypothesis is that people who are directly affected by the possible outcomes and consequences of a particular hazard (i.e., those people employed at SRS) will undervalue the risks and overvalue the potential benefits from future land uses that favor continued site activity, compared to people who live near but are not employed at SRS. We interviewed 286 people attending the Aiken Trials horse show on 14 March 1997. There were few gender differences, although men hunted and fished more than women, women ranked three environmental concerns as more severe than did men, and women were more concerned about the effect of SRS on property values. Maintenance of SRS as a National Environmental Research Park ranked first as a future land use; nuclear production ranked second, followed by hunting and hiking. Only residential development ranked very low as a future land use. There were many differences as a function of employment history at SRS: 1) people who work at SRS think that the federal government should spend funds to clean up all nuclear facilities, and they think less money should be spent on other environmental problems than did non-employees, 2) people who work at SRS ranked continued current uses of SRS higher than did people who never worked at SRS, and 3) people who work at SRS are less concerned about the storage of nuclear material or accidents at the site than are people who never worked at the site.